Sound of shattering stones.
Carlo stood bipedally atop the crumbling stone dam wall, lowering his body to inspect the ice sheet with his tail raised high, gently tapping the thick ice with the top of his skull.
Crack...
The ice emitted a slight groan of strain, though its thickness seemed quite substantial. It was at least more than capable of supporting human weight; the fragility was likely caused by the earlier airplane impact.
Carlo fell into hesitation. It wasn't that he lacked the courage to swim; rather, he simply lacked a sense of security, considering he was the kind of creature who only lost stamina twice in his entire life, both times while swimming.
In reality, however, he had nothing to fear at all, because... Mom had taught him, hadn't she?
"ROOOAR—!"
A loud bellow suddenly echoed from the horizon, slightly louder than the previous ones. Although still faint and subtle, Carlo clearly distinguished four separate voices.
It was Dad and the others.
Seeming not to have received a response, they had begun calling out anxiously, trying to pinpoint his location through his reply.
Sound of exhalation.
Carlo took a deep breath. Perhaps it was time to finally conquer his fear.
"ROOOOARR——!"
Before making his move, he reared his head back and let out a mighty roar. Though his original intention was to tell Dad and the rest to calm down, the immense distance reduced it to a distant, calling bellow.
Still, as long as it set their minds at ease, minor details didn't matter.
[Available Points: 152]
[Oxygen: 510 → 1500 → 510/1500]
[Stamina: 750 → 1500 → 750/1500]
To be safe, he unusually spent around 200 points to boost his stamina and oxygen, while also casually investing a bit into health to keep it in a regenerating state and prevent accidents. Only... why was this stamina regenerating so slowly?
Bro had already become the ultimate lifeform short of flying, yet he still complained that stamina regeneration was slow.
[Stamina: 861/1500]
[Stamina: 988/1500]
[Stamina: 1310/1500]
Splash!
The moment his stamina nearly maxed out, he executed a graceful swan dive straight into the water, shattering the ice sheet and kicking up towering waves!
Following that, the giant dinosaur surfaced, breaking through a massive expanse of fragmented ice.
Swish— swish—
His hind legs began kicking back and forth, churning the icy water as he slowly moved forward. The bone-chilling cold wrapped around his body, yet it failed to even strip away his core temperature, actually growing slightly warmer due to his internal thermal regulation.
Sound of steady breathing.
Carlo lifted his head, keeping it positioned above the water's surface to ensure the icy water wouldn't obstruct his breathing.
Sound of cracking ice.
The transport plane that had previously been wedged in the ice layer had already sunk, and the blocks of ice attempting to block Carlo's path shattered on impact, clearing a path for him.
Yet, feeling impatient, Carlo grew dissatisfied with his speed.
Perhaps the eagerness to reunite with his family, or the joy upon receiving word from them, reignited his super-intelligence.
His tail, which had previously only been used for balance, began swinging rhythmically from side to side to help propel him forward. Soon, his entire body began undulating in synchronization, and though the frequency of his leg kicks decreased, his speed actually increased.
Carlo moved instinctively in harmony with his tail's rhythm, and within moments, his speed doubled. Not only that, but he felt that if he could swing his head in tandem as well, his speed could definitely be pushed up another notch!
It was just that the obstructive ice layer always made the swaying of his head feel awkward, forcing him to crawl forward slowly like a mechanical icebreaker. Since that was the case...
Splash!
The giant dinosaur vanished beneath the water's surface, leaving behind only a layer of ripples. Carlo had briefly swam underwater back in the Atlantic; salt water was bearable, let alone fresh water.
Yet, this was his first time submerging his entire body. He had originally expected he wouldn't be able to sink, but it turned out to be surprisingly effortless.
Swish—
Carlo opened his eyes underwater. All around him was a deep, fathomless blue, with only faint beams of sunlight piercing through the ice sheet from above.
Though his field of vision was somewhat narrow, it was more than enough to discern direction.
Moving smoothly and instinctively, in less than a minute he found the rhythm that suited him best, while not the absolute fastest, it was undoubtedly the most enduring and energy-efficient tempo.
Perhaps, once you conquer your fear, the very thing you feared most might turn out to be your hidden talent.
If Dr. Grant were to witness this, a creature taking a mere five minutes to transition from a total novice to a master swimmer, he would probably suspect the creature had undergone instantaneous evolution.
Wait... for a Giganotosaurus, stepping into the ocean should probably count as degeneration, right?
"He's gone!"
Owen and Kayla sprinted across the ice sheet. Well, calling it sprinting wasn't entirely accurate; the two of them were running in an awkward, stop-and-start rush, trying to escape Carlo while keeping themselves from slipping.
Fortunately, they had moved far away from the fragile ice zone, so they didn't have to worry about the ice cracking beneath them anymore... right?
Crack-crack-crack...
Carlo poked his head out of the water, bursting through the ice sheet overhead. Because the ice proved exceptionally sturdy, a thick, circular disc of it ended up resting squarely on top of his head like a hat.
[Oxygen: 1230.4/1500]
[Stamina: 1367.3/1500]
Both stamina and oxygen were more than abundant; he was simply checking to make sure he hadn't drifted off-course.
Splash...
Seeing that Owen and the other human were still right in front of him set his mind at ease, proving that humans couldn't turn corners while fleeing.
He immediately dove back beneath the surface, though to Owen, this sight was nothing short of a horror movie.
"Holy shit!!!"
The reason they hadn't left the ice wasn't due to some cinematic cliché; they had simply assumed Carlo wouldn't chase them by walking across the ice... But now he understood: carcharodontosaurids were basically sharks.
Rumble—!
The sound of rushing water suddenly echoed ahead... It was a waterfall!
The ice began to thin out, shattering into tiny fragments as BioSyn personnel had installed a specialized filter net to prevent large blocks of ice from sliding down the waterfall.
Owen and Kayla didn't care about any of that anymore. They scrambled past the filter net, scrambled up onto a boulder, and without a moment's hesitation launched themselves off the waterfall in a textbook dive!
Military training dies hard; they definitely had that kind of nerve.
Splash... Splash—
The Imperobator was hiding along the rocky mountain wall, watching the two humans plunge nearly a hundred meters down into the wide river below, only to violently resurface moments later.
Fascinating (flaps wings).
"Is that fucking thing a dinosaur?!"
It was Kayla's first time facing Carlo head-on. Although she had heard rumors beforehand, nobody ever said those rumors weren't exaggerated!
"Don't worry, it's too high up here. There's no way in hell he survives that jump."
Owen spoke with absolute confidence, though he quickly noticed boulders tumbling down the cliff face. The Imperobator let out a pitiful shriek as it tumbled right down into the river with them, though it didn't even spare them a second glance, paddling away madly into the distance.
Hm?
Owen felt a shadow cast over him. Raising his head, he spotted a familiar, colossal silhouette and a familiar diving posture.
"Oh, what the fu—"
From the exact moment he had been blasted off the mountain by BioSyn's people, Carlo had understood a fundamental truth.
Fall damage wasn't enabled for him (Classic ARK logic).
———————
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